Wednesday, July 29, 2009

"Babylon's Ancient Wonder, Lying in Ruins: History Not Served By U.S. Presence"


Article source: Nada Bakri, The Washington Post, July 29, 2009.

The Washington Post today has an article describing massive damage done to the ruins of Babylon because the site of the city was used by U.S. troops in Iraq as a military base. The story cites a major report recently published by UNESCO. The article notes that efforts are now under way to have the site of Babylon added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites.

Several efforts to restore Babylon have been announced in the past six years, but none has made progress. Now, with security in Iraq improving, officials hope to start work on a $700,000, two-year project funded by the U.S. State Department to restore the site. .....

"Of course this is not enough, but it is better than nothing," lamented Mussa, the site director. "We had hoped that work would start this year."

On her desk were papers detailing the damage, gathering dust.

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